Tech Leaders Pledge Billions as Pandemic Forces Factory Closures
Jack Dorsey dedicates $1 billion of his Square equity to COVID-19 relief, while Tesla furloughs workers and extends its factory shutdowns through early May.
Jack Dorsey pledges $1 billion of his Square equity to launch a COVID-19 relief fund called Start Small. The Twitter and Square CEO shares a public spreadsheet to track all disbursements, with the first donation of $100,000 going to America’s Food Fund to help provide meals for vulnerable populations during the pandemic.
Tesla extends its factory shutdowns in the United States until at least May 4 as the coronavirus crisis continues. In response to the prolonged production pause, the automaker reduces salaries for salaried employees by 10% to 30% and begins furloughing its factory workers.
In other tech news, Sony unveils the sleek, black-and-white design of the PlayStation 5 controller, officially named the DualSense. Additionally, Netflix rolls out a new feature that allows users to lock their personal profiles with a PIN to keep kids or roommates from interfering with their viewing history.